Game-counter.



G. H. BARKER.

GAME COUNTER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 30, 19H. RENEWED JULY 12, 1915.

1,168,374. Patented J an. 18, 1916.

2 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

THE coLuMum PLANOGRAPH co, WASHINGTON, D. c.

G. H. BARKER.

GAME COUNTER.

APPLICATION r1121) OCT. 30. 1911. RENEWED JULY 12. 1915.

1,168,374, Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WZr ififiea' v 622257 THE COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH cm, WASHINGTON. n. c.

' GEORGE BARKER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

I GAME-COUNTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

Application filed October 30, 1911, Serial No. 657,433. Renewed July 12,1915. Serial No. 39,522.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. BARKER, a citizenof the United ijtates,and resident of Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game-(Jounters, of which the following is a specifie cation.

My invention relates to game counters and has particular reference to acounter for use in the game of cribbage. The counters heretofore used inconnection with the game of cribbage have usually consisted of a boardprovided with four parallel rows of holes, each of two players usinghalf of the board. There are ordinarily thirty holes in each row and asthe game consists of one hundred and twenty points, it has beennecessary to count over the rows twice. This occasions confusion as theplayers may not remember whether they are on the first or last turn inthe count. would, of course, be possible to construct a board with onehundred and twenty holes for each player but this would make a board ofawkward size, and would necessitate a considerable reach to theextremities of the board. Furthermore in counting on the parallel rowsthe players sometime become confused as to the direction in which theyare counting on the particular row for the reason that on the lower rowthey count toward the left and on the upper row toward the right.

One of the objects of my invention is the construction of a board havingholes or recesses for the counting pegs, the holes being arranged sothat the player always counts in one direction and without retracing hissteps or using the same holes twice in one game. This I accomplishbyarranging the holes in the form of a spiral, the player preferablybeginning at the outside spiral and ending the game with the centralopening. By thus arranging the board it will be seen that space iseconomized; that instead of arranging the board for two players, eachplayer may be given a small indi-.

vidual board and that therefore the number of players is not limited;that the count is always in one direction; that direction beingpreferably clockwise and that the count- To avoid this it 5 ing holesare arranged more compactly thus obviating the reach necessary in manyof the present boards.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a plan view of an individual game counter arranged inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig.1; Fig. 3 illustrates a modification of the construction of Fig. 1,wherem the board is rectangular and the holes arranged accordinglyalthough still in the same generally spiral outline; Fig. 1 is a stillfurther modification in shape, the outline in this case being octagonal,and Fig. 5 is a still further modification showing the construction ofFig. l as applied to a single board for two players.

Referring more particularly to the drawings it will be seen that thebase or board 10, which may be of any preferred construction, isprovided with a plurality of holes 11, these holes being arranged inspiral form. In counting it will, of course, be understood that pegs areused, which pegs are fitted into the holes 11. Preferably I provide alsoa number of additional perforations 12, in which the extra pegs may bekept and in which the score of the complete games may also be kept.

Referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the board 13 is square and thatthe perforations 1 1, while following the outline of the board, arearranged in generally spiral outline.

In Fig. 4: I have shown an octagonal board 15, and likewise the holes16, while following the outline of the board, still follow theirgenerally spiral path.

In Fig. 5, I provide a board 17, on which are arranged two sets ofcounting holes, the holes being arranged exactly as shown in Fig. 1. 7

While I have shown my game counter as formed from a simple board withholes therein, it will be understood that the board tions therein; alsothat other and further form of a spiral, said spiral extending in amodifications may be made all Without decontinuous line from the centerto the outer parting from the spirit of my invention. edge of the base,substantially as described. 10

I claim: GEORGE H. BAR-KER. 5 A game counter composed of a basehavlVitnesses:

ing a line of counting recesses therein, said MAY K. PYLE, line beingarranged substantially in the LILLIAN C. LOFTUS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents Washington, I). C.

